How Satan Attacks The Saints Pt. 6 Understanding The Battle KJV 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Every military campaign has soldiers who are on alert those who go to high strategic places and watch carefully for the enemies attack. This is the meaning of being sober and vigilant it s being on alert because we know we have an enemy and we know he will attack Only serious sober minded people gain understanding They don t take for grant they are receiving God s best for their lives they know the value of understanding. Prov 3:13-14 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise (value) of it is better than the merchandise (profit) of silver, and the gain (revenue) thereof than fine gold. 2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Satan gains the advantage over us when we are ignorant of his tactics Folks sin is not a dirty word that believers need to be afraid of any more than dirt is something to fear sin like dirt is everywhere and affects us all. The question is how much dirt (sin) will we allow on us before we get cleaned up One of Satan s tactics is to divide the saints; placing Christian against Christian NIV Matthew 12:25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. A divided people cannot stand against a common enemy
This is a tactic of Satan, a part of his battle plan and how he gains the advantage NIV 1 Corinthians 1:11-13 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; {Peter} still another, "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? What makes sinners saints is not the group we re a part of or the preacher who baptized us nor the teacher we follow or whether we speak in tongues. It s faith in the precious blood of Christ Saints are not saints because they don t sin Sainthood is based on what Christ has done not what we do or have done. Yet saints who willingly sin open themselves up for attack from Satan because he takes the advantage. We see this in Corinth where Paul plainly tells us they were sanctified in Christ Jesus (made saints) by the will of God. NIV 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-- their Lord and ours: NIV 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. Notice Paul says there was sin among the saints that was not common among The Gentiles or non-believers. Paul says to hand him over to Satan for his flesh to be tormented so he would change his mind about his sin and repent.
This man s sin had given Satan access into his life, family and eventually the church there at Corinth. But this act of love we meant to help him change We showed you what that might look like in the life of Job He was a righteous man that God allowed Satan to attack Satan attacked his family and possessions to try and change Job s mind about God. Attacking Job meant touching everything connected to Job The battle was not against Job s family or possessions the battle was against Job s mind, what he thought about God would affect his relationships. How did Satan attack Job s mind? By going after the things Job loved his health, his family, his business and his possessions Remember Satan told God he could get Job to curse God to change Job s mind about God. And notice when Satan attacked Job his friends (relationships) with the people closest to him were strained & his house almost divided. NLT Job 2:11 Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Eliphaz (the eldest) was the most sympathetic but was also first to accuse Job of sin in his life He tells Job he wasn t all that holy in the first place and that he was full of pride. Bildad tells Job that Satan attacked because his children weren t really saved Bildad s words are harsher than Eliphaz. Zophar speaks the harshest against his friend Job He condemns Job as a hypocrite of God and says Job s problems are proof he s a sinner. He tells Job to repent or die because he deserved it. In the end God was angry with Job s friend s KJV Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the
LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Every one of Job s relationships was challenged because Satan attacks him. Even his wife tells him to curse God and die, wow None of these people were going through what Job was yet they were all upset, angry & abusive to the one who was under attack. They stopped suppling God s love as required. Satan wanted to separate Job from God, his family and his friends he was trying to bring division. Remember a house divided can t stand In Corinth the battle was not with this man or his wife The battle was spiritual with the minds of him, his wife and the church. In the last verse of the chapter (1 Cor 5:13) Paul says saints are to separate themselves for the wicked works or deeds of this person. Another way to look at the sinning saint is to quarantine them It s a period of strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease. The quarantined person is kept under strict observation and monitored for the purpose of healing not condemnation and death. But now let s look at something surprisingly different 1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. Saints live in the light of Christ Hate here means to love less than required by God What makes a saint hate another saint, when they sin against them? We hate them because they hurt us so we stop supplying them faith, hope and love like Job s friends did him. Hate is the absence of acts of love toward another
Love has one speed and one direction continuous and forward Love has no neutral it cannot stop; if it does it is hatred because love must be expressed When love is absent hate is present Now let s contrast the situation in 1 Cor 5 with 1 John 2. Paul says the fornicating saint is to be separated from the rest of the saints (as an act of love) because his deeds were wicked but his salvation was intact. He s to be quarantined but still supplied with love from the saints Whereas John says the saint who hates his brother was hanging out with them but never supplying true love. Wait a minute Are you trying to say the sinning saint might be in a better spiritual place than the hating saint? At least the saint in sin can be helped because we know where But the person who claims to be a saint yet hates his brother is in darkness. 1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Job s friends didn t supply him the love they were required to by God, instead they hated on Job. God tells them to go and give 7 bulls and 7 rams to Job (who is a priest) remember he made sacrifices for his children. God says in order to restore the relationship to its proper place trust the anointing on Job s life by giving him some of your wealth that he gives to me to intercede for you (cause Job in all his trouble is more righteous than you haters). Then God restores Job by giving him twice as much as he had before, restoring his honor and the respect his family and friends had for him. Satan has lost the battle because all he got was some sheep, goats, oxen, camels, and a house Which Job got back double
The servants and his children all went to glory anyway And there is no longer any division among his family, friends and his community all things are restored better than before.